Film review: Belfast
Kenneth Branagh’s touching film about a boy’s life in the Troubles in Northern Ireland
Sean Penn’s last film as a director “pretty much got him booed off the red carpet” at Cannes, but on the basis of Flag Day, in which he also stars, he has clearly “still got it”, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. In this “very watchable and well-made family drama”, he plays the real-life swindler John Vogel, who was pursued by the FBI in the 1990s for forging $100 bills on an industrial scale. Penn exudes a “buzzard-like watchfulness” as the sociopathic Vogel; his “seductive address to the camera is almost unrivalled”. As a director, too, “he knows how to bring the horsepower”. The film is based on a memoir by Vogel’s daughter, Jennifer (played by Dylan Penn, Sean Penn’s daughter with Robin Wright), a journalist who must come to terms with her father’s ceaseless lies. “There are some pretty broad emotional strokes here”, but the film made “with some style”.
Penn certainly “makes the utmost” of his “craggily dissolute features”, said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail, but I found him “show-offy”, and the film heavy-handed. Jennifer, who is at the centre of the story, becomes “wincingly over-lyrical in narrating the account of her blighted childhood”; and a subplot about her path into journalism also fails to thrill. The screenplay is by the normally reliable Butterworth brothers, Jez and John-Henry; still, it’s “not a bad film”, with its echoes of Paper Moon (1973) and foot-tapping soundtrack. While there’s a frisson to the familial casting, said Alistair Harkness in The Scotsman – Penn’s son is also in the film – it doesn’t quite make up for the sometimes “hackneyed way the story” plays out. The “Terrence Malick-style camera work” and “ornate voice-over”, meanwhile, seem designed to make the film “seem more profound” than it is.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
June 29 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the AI genie, Iran saving face, and bad language bombs
-
A tall ship adventure in the Mediterranean
The Week Recommends Sailing aboard this schooner and exploring Portugal, Spain and Monaco is a 'magical' experience
-
How drone warfare works
The Explainer From Ukraine to Iran, it has become clear that unmanned aircraft are rapidly revolutionising modern warfare
-
The tourist flood in the Mediterranean: can it be stemmed?
Talking Point Finger-pointing at Airbnb or hotel owners obscures the root cause of overtourism in holiday hotspots: unmanageable demand
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Lovestuck: a 'warm-hearted' musical with a 'powerhouse score'
The Week Recommends Team behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno have created a hilarious show about a disastrous viral Tinder date
-
Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'
The Week Recommends Adaptation of Mary Lovell's biography examines the scandalous lives of the aristocratic sisters
-
F1: The Movie – a fun but formulaic 'corporate tie-in'
Talking Point Brad Pitt stars as a washed up racing driver returning three decades after a near-fatal crash
-
Lost Boys: a 'sobering' journey to the heart of the manosphere
The Week Recommends James Bloodworth examines the 'cranks and hucksters' making money through 'masculine discontent'
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Critics' choice: Carrying the flag
Feature The best barbecue in town, Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak restaurant, and more